The Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain – formerly operating as the Ministry of Water & Electricity (MEW) –commissioned KEMA to optimize maintenance and related operating processes of its entire electricity transmission and distribution (T&D) network. During the 18-month project KEMA will assist EWA in accomplishing its overall goal to become an international leader in operational excellence. Bahrain is an archipelago of 33 islands located in the southern Persian Gulf.

With the signing by the Minister, Sheikh Abdulla Bin Salman Bin Khaled Al Khalifa, EWA’s Sheikh Nawaf Bin Ebrahim al Kalifa, and KEMA’s CEO, Pier Nabuurs, both parties agreed on an 18-months program to optimize the maintenance and related operating processes of Bahrain’s entire T&D network. In addition to some 5,000 distribution stations and 80 high-voltage stations, the network includes approximately 8,000 km of underground cable and 450 km of high-voltage overhead lines. Based on a strong sense of responsibility towards the people it serves, EWA is looking for the proper balance between reliable, yet affordable energy and water supply.

“We are delighted that the EWA has selected KEMA for this important and challenging project,” said Pier Nabuurs. “The competition was very tough, but our innovative solutions for this type of assignment and our experience in the area were clearly a deciding factor. This assignment is fully in line with our investment commitment, namely to support our Middle Eastern clients from our Dubai office.”

A significant part of the activities includes implementation of KEMA’s CASCADE system, an equipment health-based asset management IT system. As the only such system designed exclusively for the electric utility industry, the EWA project is the first application of CASCADE outside the US where it already serves over 70 utility customers.

KEMA also will provide a comprehensive inventory and condition assessment of all of EWA’s T&D equipment, including revision of all asset-related business processes and definition of adequate maintenance programs. In addition, KEMA will audit and review safety, staffing skills, required training and address organizational issues. KEMA will focus on the implementation of the asset management support tool and programs in the revised business processes.

EWA ultimately selected KEMA based on the firm’s highly regarded expertise on transformer condition assessments that have been conducted over the past few years and on the availability of the CASCADE software, which is in wide use in the US utility industry. The combination of technical assessment, consulting on operating processes, and implementation of this CASCADE software makes this engagement a unique and highly valuable endeavor for both EWA and KEMA.